Before every game, a horde of reporters make their way into the office of Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and ask him about the status of injured outfielder Colby Rasmus, who has been out since May 13 with a right hamstring injury.

Up until Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park in Detroit, Gibbons would laugh and pretend that he had no idea how his starting centre fielder was faring or when he would start a rehab assignment. That changed prior to Thursday’s game in Detroit, when Gibbons acknowledged that Rasmus took some batting practice and ran the bases in Florida and will hopefully get into some games next week.

But one thing’s for certain — though nobody in the organization has actually come out and said this — there’s no dying sense of urgency to get Rasmus back. The Jays have gone 18-4 since the Columbus, Ga., native went down and his fill-in at centrefield, Anthony Gose, has done a decent job at the plate, batting .237, but reaching base safely in 14 of his 18 starts and has been exceptional late in games and in close games, and just overall looks more comfortable on the bases with his blazing speed. He has also been nothing short of dynamite defensively in centre.

The other young outfielder with the Jays, Kevin Pillar, isn’t playing as much as Gose, but has certainly played well when called upon, hitting .250 and going 7-for-16 in his past five starts and like Gose, playing exceptional defence. Gose and Pillar are 23 and 25 years of age, respectively. The Jays are now comfortable with either in the outfield and, generally speaking, at the plate.

“They’ve done a great job, they really have,” Gibbons said. “And they’ve sparked us in a lot of ways, just some good at-bats, really good defence, doing some things on the bases.”

Both outfielders played winter ball and worked on their respective games and just seem more comfortable in the bigs this year. They’re more relaxed, having gone through the call-up process last season.

“Oh yeah, sometimes you try a little bit too hard (when you first get called up to the bigs). No question, especially those young guys,” Gibbons said. “So you tell them, ‘You don’t have to be perfect, nobody is.’ And of course the hype in the big leagues too is a big part of it, you got to get through that. And the only way to get through is a little success.”

So with Gose basically a better defensive centre fielder than Rasmus and hopefully improving at the plate (though he went 0-for-4 in Toronto’s 7-3 win over the Tigers on Thursday and has only one hit in his past six games) why not trade Rasmus for some pitching help? Rasmus has certainly displayed exceptional power during his career, hitting more than 20 home runs in the majors three times including 22 last season with the Jays, but his ability to hit for average is questionable and while his defence in centre is better than average, it doesn’t compare to Gose. Rasmus was hitting .222 when he went down this season.

The Jays are flying high — sitting on top of the American League East with a 37-24 record — but they still need some help on the mound. Rasmus seems to be the obvious bait for a trade to get that help. His current one-year deal expires at the end of the season and is making a relatively modest $7 million. The Jays can tender him an offer, but if he declines and samples free agency (the Jays would get a draft pick), he’ll likely command close to double what he’s making now — another reason why Rogers, always careful with their money, might want to stick with Gose and Pillar going forward.

Again, the Jays are sitting pretty right now, with an explosive offence and some great starts, especially by Mark Buehrle and Drew Hutchison, and the bullpen again is performing well. But they’re still short a reliable veteran starter (rookie Marcus Stroman is scheduled to start on Friday).

The Jays are starting to look like a post-season team more and more. Now’s probably a good time to try to get something for Rasmus, another piece of the puzzle that might help send them to the post-season. Even if Gose doesn’t turn it on at the plate, with Toronto’s offence, his defence is probably enough.

The Jays should deal Colby Rasmus

Before every game, a horde of reporters make their way into the office of Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and ask him about the status of injured outfielder Colby Rasmus, who has been out since May 13 with a right hamstring injury.

Up until Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park in Detroit, Gibbons would laugh and pretend that he had no idea how his starting centre fielder was faring or when he would start a rehab assignment. That changed prior to Thursday’s game in Detroit, when Gibbons acknowledged that Rasmus took some batting practice and ran the bases in Florida and will hopefully get into some games next week.

But one thing’s for certain — though nobody in the organization has actually come out and said this — there’s no dying sense of urgency to get Rasmus back. The Jays have gone 18-4 since the Columbus, Ga., native went down and his fill-in at centrefield, Anthony Gose, has done a decent job at the plate, batting .237, but